Month: November 2018

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News

YOU Issue: Recess report

Here’s what readers asked for:

What the hell happened to recess in our schools?—Rebecca Coleman Cooper

After her daughter had recess time taken away twice for talking during class, local mom Christa Bennett started a petition to end this punitive practice in city schools. And she thought it had worked.

The city’s school board approved a new wellness policy in September 2017—one that just won an award from the Virginia Department of Health—which mandates that teachers and administrators can not take away any recess, physical education, or physical activity as a form of discipline.

“I definitely consider getting this policy approved as a win,” says Bennett, who volunteers on the school’s health advisory board. “However, it is also true that taking away recess for punishment still happens. It happened in one of my daughter’s classes just today.”

The issue, she says, is that some teachers and administrators just don’t know the new policy.

The good news, she says, is that all of the principals are now aware of it, and “when approached with a parent’s concern, I’ve found that they’re able to work with the teacher to ensure recess isn’t taken away in the future.”

In city schools, kindergarteners now get extended play. The youngsters get two recess periods a day for a total of 45 minutes, according to schools spokesperson Beth Cheuk. From first to fourth grades, students get a minimum of 30 minutes of recess each day, and in fifth and sixth, they’re required to have at least 25 minutes of daily physical activity.

And how do we know that teachers are actually giving kids their recess time?

Cheuk says she spoke with one school secretary who “literally sees the kids on the playground, and watches a parade of them come into the office for bathroom breaks.” And other secretaries told her they routinely have to pull kids out of recess for early pickups. Principals and other administrators have eyes on all parts of the schools—including the playgrounds—to make sure teachers follow the master schedule.

“Bottom line: School secretaries know everything,” says Cheuk.

Over in the county schools, spokesperson Phil Giaramita says teachers don’t have the authority to take away recess time, though they don’t specifically have a policy that prohibits it. Kids in county schools get 20 minutes of recess per day, he adds.

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News

YOU issue: Who’s in jail?

The Charlottesville-Albemarle Regional Jail. Photo: Eric Kelley

Here’s what readers asked for:

Pick one day and find out in Charlottesville and Albemarle County the name of everyone locked up in the Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail on that day, the reason they are there, and their anticipated release date.—Catherine Wray

With close to 500 inmates in the regional jail, we pretty quickly nixed the idea of listing the name of everyone locked up, the reason they’re there, and their anticipated release date.

Here’s what we can tell you about what was going on at the jail on October 31, courtesy of Superintendent Martin Kumer.

Number of inmates: 488

How that fluctuates: Over the past few years as low as 380 to a high now of 488.

Number of beds: The jail is rated to have 329 beds, but actually has around 600.

Number of men: 415

Number of women: 73 (It’s been consistently 85 percent men, 15 percent women for the past two years.)

Racial breakdown: Roughly 50/50 among blacks and whites (the prison software does not track any other races).

Average age: Unreported, but “I would put it in the low 30s.”

Average length of stay: 35 days.

Number that are U.S. citizens: “We don’t have a report for that but I would estimate fewer than 10 at any time report being a citizen of another country.”

Most common charge resulting in incarceration: Not tracked, but “probation violation is probably the most common.”

Number in solitary confinement:
18 on October 31.

Number in work release: 28, but it fluctuates.

Cost per day per inmate: $91, but “that number is not a true cost of incarceration and is very misleading. That number is derived by totaling all of the inmate days per year and dividing it by the total budget. However, some of those costs are fixed so the jail population doesn’t directly impact the overall budget.”

Annual Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail budget: $15,345,000

Budget contribution from Albemarle: $3,541,000

Contribution from Charlottesville: $4,591,000

Nelson County: $618,000.

(Contributions are based on a percentage of that jurisdiction’s inmates.)

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News

In brief: Councilors’ credit cards, ACA sign-up perils, abusive language verdict and more…

JABA counselor Laurel Olson, center, helps Amy and Susan Hastings find the right health insurance. David McNair

Using ACA insurance? Read this first

Yes, the Affordable Care Marketplace is still here, and sign-up ends December 15. Counselors at the Jefferson Area Board for Aging have seen a few surprises in the process, and want residents to be aware they could face some unpleasant results if they simply auto-enroll this year.

One big difference: Optima was the only insurance carrier in the marketplace in 2018. This year Anthem is back, which provides more options, but also can affect the amount of the subsidy for those who qualify.

Joe Bernheim at JABA explains: With two carriers, the benchmark plan—that’s the second-lowest-cost silver plan—will be less than what consumers saw last year. That means that government subsidy will be lower, and those whose income allows them to qualify for the subsidy will see higher premiums.

What you need to know

  • Don’t auto-enroll. You may be able to get a better plan or lower premium.
  • Some people have received letters with estimates from the current carrier that are inaccurate and much lower than what the premium will actually be.
  • Consumers are being offered “direct” and “select” plans. The select plans exclude most of the doctors at UVA, while direct plans offer a broad network of local providers. If you auto-enroll, you could be put in a select plan.
  • People who aren’t eligible for the subsidy will see lower premiums and a broader network of providers.
  • If you’re signing up for newly available Medicaid, there’s no deadline, but JABA advises going to the Marketplace website (healthcare.gov) to cancel ACA insurance or you may be charged.
  • Can we say it again? Don’t auto-enroll, and do sign up before the December 15 deadline.

Quote of the week

“I feel like court’s going to be watching my daughter die again, over and over and over.”—Susan Bro, Heather Heyer’s mother, on NPR.

In brief

Tinsley sexual misconduct suit

Trumpeter James Frost-Winn’s $9-million sexual harassment lawsuit against former Dave Matthews Band violinist Boyd Tinsley is scheduled for trial September 9, 2019, in Seattle. Tinsley announced he would not be touring with the band in February, the same day he got a demand letter from Frost-Winn’s attorney.

Another pipeline delay?

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has suspended a permit necessary for the 600-mile, $6 billion Atlantic Coast Pipeline to cross the 1,500 streams along its path from West Virginia to North Carolina, for concerns of harm to aquatic life. This is one of several setbacks Dominion has faced since it began building the pipeline this year, but a spokesperson says it’s still scheduled for completion by the end of 2019.

Censorship suit

Local attorney Jeff Fogel has filed yet another lawsuit regarding prison censorship. He’s now representing Uhuru Baraka Rowe, an inmate at Greensville Correctional Center, who claims his First and Fourteenth Amendment rights were violated when prison officials at the Sussex II State Prison censored essays he wrote about conditions in the facility.

Win for Miska

 

Anna Malinowski at a 2017 protest. Staff photo

Local anti-racists like to scream at John Miska, a veterans’ rights and Confederate statue supporter. Recently, in Albemarle General District Court, a judge found Anna Malinowski guilty of abusive language for accosting him outside a school board meeting. At an earlier hearing in the city, a judge let Donna Gasapo off the hook for similar behavior.

Councilors’ credit line

In a much-discussed story that appeared in the November 25 issue of the Daily Progress, reporter Nolan Stout examined the $26,784 in charges (and taxpayer money) that city councilors have racked up on their city credit cards over the past year and a half. All five councilors have one, and four of them have a limit of $20,000—except for Mike Signer, who as mayor inherited the council’s original card, with a credit limit of $2,500.

Vice-Mayor Heather Hill hasn’t used her card, and Councilor Wes Bellamy, who has traveled extensively for various conferences, has spent the most, charging more than $15,000 from September 6, 2017, to October 29 of this year. Local activist group Solidarity Cville has called the article a racist “hit piece” on Bellamy, and said it wouldn’t have been written if white Councilor Kathy Galvin were the highest spender. All councilors were within budget and mostly used their cards for out-of-town meals, hotels, and travel, but here’s what some of the specific charges looked like:

Charged up

  • $1,418 spent by Bellamy at a Le Meridien hotel for a National League of Cities conference in Charlotte
  • $15.52 spent by Bellamy at Kiki’s Chicken and Waffles
  • $41.17 spent by Bellamy at Hooters
  • $1,000 spent by Signer on a hotel to speak on a panel called “Local Leadership in the Wake of Terror” at the SXSW Cities Conference in Austin, Texas
  • $307.19 spent by Signer, mostly for meals and Lyfts in Austin, “many of which were at midnight or later,” notes the reporter
  • $101.09 spent by Mayor Nikuyah Walker at Ragged Mountain Running Shop ahead of her event called “Get Healthy with the Mayor”
  • $132.22 spent by Walker at Beer Run
  • $706 spent by Galvin on a Hyatt hotel for a two-day forum in Washington, D.C.
  • $4.99 spent by former City Council chief of staff Paige Rice on an iTunes bill
Categories
News

YOU issue: Criminalization of poverty

The Fountain Fund lent Kevin Mellette around $2,500 to help him pay restitution. eze amos

Here’s what readers asked for:

I’d like to suggest a piece on the criminalization of poverty (which is essentially what is happening to people who are incarcerated and are low-income), and a look at what we do at the Fountain Fund, where we provide low-interest loans to the formerly incarcerated to help them get their lives back.—Erika Viccellio

C-VILLE Weekly has covered stories on this issue, such as last week’s update on the Legal Aid Justice Center’s attempt to stop the state’s practice of automatically suspending driver’s licenses because of unpaid court fines and fees. These suspensions are often unrelated to the crime itself and are made with no regard to the person’s ability to repay the costs. They perpetuate the cycle of debt, unemployment, and incarceration.

Former U.S. attorney Tim Heaphy had firsthand experience putting away lawbreakers, but was less familiar with what happened once they’d done their time. When he ran into a man he’d prosecuted, Heaphy learned how difficult it was for a felon to get his life back and how debilitating court debt was to becoming a productive citizen.

The man was “literally shackled by these fines and fees that were not connected with the crime,” says Erika Viccellio, executive director of the Fountain Fund, which Heaphy founded to help those returning from prison successfully reenter the community.

“The criminalization of poverty is a real thing,” she adds.

Heaphy launched the nonprofit Fountain Fund two years ago. He raised $500,000, and the fund made its first loan in May 2017.

Viccellio, who has worked with local nonprofits for the past 20 years, recently decided to focus on equity and justice. She says she’s learned that “mass incarceration is the new Jim Crow.”

In her two months at the fund, she says, “I’ve had so many shocking moments.” She learned that it costs $400 a month to have an ankle bracelet for home incarceration. “Are you kidding me—$400 a month?”

The Fountain Fund loaned that person money for the bracelet, and when it came off, made a second loan to help make a down payment on a car.

In the past 18 months, the fund has made 54 loans to people totaling $135,000. The average loan is $2,500 and the fund is pushing that to $3,000, says Viccellio.

“We’ve spent time with hundreds of people to get them connected with the help they need,” she says. That can be court-debt counseling, which can be daunting if it involves fines and fees from multiple courts. “Sometimes people just need help navigating.”

And the repayment rate? “One hundred percent,” says Viccellio. She admits that by bank terms, she’s had a few defaults. “If you’re talking to us helping us to understand why, we’ll work with you.” And that is a unique aspect of the program, she says, finding the right balance between accountability and working with people “when life happens.”

For many of the fund’s clients, “It’s about someone believing in” them, says Viccellio.

The Fountain Fund has caused her to imagine the difference these loans can make in people’s lives, as well as other possibilities. “What becomes possible for people without these fines and fees?”

Categories
Arts

YOU Issue: Charlottesville Threshold Singers soothe with bedside harmonies

“The Charlottesville Threshold Singers have been singing to hospice patients and others in need of comfort and peace for more than a dozen years.”—Lynn Pribus

It wasn’t easy for Lynn Pribus to move from California to Charlottesville 11 years ago, despite being closer to her children and grandchildren. She missed writing for the Sacramento Bee, and the artistic community she’d been a part of while living in Sacramento for 25 years. Almost immediately upon arrival, Pribus saw an ad for the Charlottesville Threshold Singers in a Nellysford publication, and just one week after her cross-country move, she attended her first rehearsal with the group.

“I felt a great sense of harmony,” Pribus remembers. “Not just in the music and the harmonies we sing, which are often very rich. There was a harmony among the women members. I immediately felt at home.”

In 2000, Kate Munger founded the first Threshold Choir in El Cerrito, California, in hope of providing comfort to individuals “on the threshold” between life and death. Several members of Charlottesville Women’s Choir met Munger in 2006 at a Sister Singers Network festival in San Diego, and three months later, the Charlottesville chapter of the Threshold Choir was born.

Earlier this year, the all-volunteer singing group changed its name to the Threshold Singers. Pribus says the title change brings less religious imagery to mind.

“Our members are Jewish, Christian, and some not anything at all,” she says. “Some are longtime married, some are divorced, and some are single. We’re gay and straight. All you have to do is sing and care.”

The group sings as a free service at hospitals, nursing homes, or private residences, and also for residents of long-term care facilities like Cedars Healthcare Center, where they rehearse. When the singers gather at a person’s deathbed, they sing slowly and softly, and the songs are usually unfamiliar to listeners, with two or three lines of verse repeated.

Pribus says this gentle repetition transforms the song into a mantra. In one of the group’s lullaby-like serenades, singers recite, “We’re all just walking each other home.” In another—Pribus’ current favorite—the lyrics read, “In the quiet of this moment, I am at peace. / All is well.”

“I like that feeling of all is well, even when a person is very near death,” says Pribus. She tells a story of singing three times for one elderly man in the hospital.

“The second time we sang for him, he was restless, unresponsive, and seemed to not be hearing much,” Pribus recalls. When the singers returned for their next visit, someone asked if he’d like the women to sing for him again.

“He very clearly said, ‘Yes’,” Pribus remembers. “You could see him calming down. He drifted off to sleep. It was two days before he died.”

Pribus often sees friends, family, nurses, and doctors finding solace while the group sings for a patient. At a recent event in Alexandria that celebrated caregivers, she says many of the nurses and other caregivers in the room started crying.

“So often, what they give isn’t recognized. It becomes a part of who you are and what you do,” says Pribus.

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Living Sponsored

It takes a village: The United Way brings people together

Kevin, United Way Self-Sufficiency Program Participant, with son Nathan

The United Way – Thomas Jefferson Area knows it takes a village to make our community better. As a stable, flexible and focused leader, United Way brings people together to listen, understand and collaborate to solve problems. Impact areas include School Readiness, Community Health and Self-Sufficiency.

United Way makes a big impact on people’s lives every day. Last year, 51 young children from low-income households received Early Learner Scholarships for high-quality early education programs that prepare them for success in kindergarten. The Cville Tax Aid program, a collaboration led by United Way, prepared 2,598 tax returns for low-income workers, resulting in $3.3M in refunds and a total local economic impact of $3.7M. The RX Relief prescription assistance program served 546 local patients by providing free prescription medications to treat chronic, often life-threatening illnesses. And, the United Way initiated a pilot of its new Family Self-Sufficiency Program, welcoming four families working on personal plans to achieve financial independence. The United Way also provides grants to local programs that make a difference in the Impact Areas of School Readiness, Self-Sufficiency, and Community Health.

Yet, there is much more work to be done. Over 50 children ages 0-5 are currently on the waiting list for United Way Early Learner Scholarships. There is great need, and every scholarship that puts a child on the path to success costs approximately $11,000. “Providing high-quality early education opportunities for low-income children ensures their academic success and ability to meet their peers at grade level when starting kindergarten. The long-term outcome for these children is greatly improved with early proactive interventions that lead to success throughout their academic careers and a stronger economic future. Investing in our children is critical to the health and vibrancy of our community.” – Ravi Respeto, United Way President

By expanding tax preparation sites and recruiting more volunteers thanks to Madison House, the Cville Tax Aid program aims to provide its service to more local low-income taxpayers, but needs support to obtain the equipment, materials, and staffing needed.

In collaboration with Sentara Martha Jefferson Hospital, UVA Health System and the Thomas Jefferson Health District, United Way is working toward health equity in our community, beginning by engaging African-American and Latino community members affected by Type 2 Diabetes. “Our goal is to significantly decrease the incidence of Type 2 Diabetes through strategic partnerships with both Sentara Martha Jefferson Hospital and UVA Health System to reach all at-risk community members with long-term sustainable programs focused on prevention,” stated Ms. Respeto.

The Family Self-Sufficiency Program will accept nominations for more families, helping them identify and eliminate specific financial barriers that stand in the way of success.

On Tuesday, November 27, members of the local community are invited to COME TOGETHER with the United Way – Thomas Jefferson Area for #GivingTuesday. By supporting the United Way on #GivingTuesday, your gift will help local families access high-quality early education, healthcare, and opportunities to live self-sufficiently. “When we come together, we can reach higher and farther. We can do more for our community.” UnitedWayTJA.org

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News

Day 1: Seating a jury in the James Fields trial

Lawyers for James Alex Fields, 21, the Ohio man charged with the first-degree murder of Heather Heyer and accused of plowing his Dodge Challenger into a crowd of demonstrators on Fourth Street August 12, 2017, suggested he may argue self defense in early questioning of potential jurors.

Fields, a self-described neo-Nazi, is also charged with five counts of aggravated malicious wounding, three counts of malicious wounding and one count of leaving the scene. He appeared in court unshaved and wearing a dark suit and tie.

The case—and the swarms of white supremacists and neo-Nazis in the streets of Charlottesville for the Unite the Right rally—made national news. Fields’ attorney, former commonwealth’s attorney Denise Lunsford, earlier had requested a change of venue. Judge Rick Moore took the motion under advisement, but seemed confident he could find 12 impartial jurors and four alternates.

Questionnaires went out to 360 potential jurors, the largest pool ever in Charlottesville, and by 10am November 26, around 60 were sitting in Charlottesville Circuit Court.

Jury selection got off to a slow start. Potential jurors were put in a group of 28 for the first round of questioning to determine juror bias. One was dismissed because she no longer lived in Charlottesville.

Nearly all of the 28 raised their hands when asked if they’d heard about the case through the media.

The prosecution said it planned to call 40 witnesses, including victims Marcus Martin and Marissa Blair, and former Daily Progress reporter Ryan Kelly, whose photo of the Fourth Street crash won a Pulitzer prize.

Lunsford listed around 15 possible witnesses, including Officer Tammy Shifflett, the school resource officer who left her position blocking Fourth Street at Market when she became fearful for her personal safety, and Fields’ mother, Samantha Bloom, who has called police in the past because she was frightened by her son’s behavior.

The trial is expected to last three weeks.

 

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Food & Drink Living

Spicing up the menu: A new chef brings new flavors to Zocalo

Zocalo has undergone a number of major changes recently, with owner Ivan Rekosh buying out his longtime partner and then bringing in a new executive chef, Zynodoa’s Josh Hutter, who’s been shaking up the menu with a variety of surprising new offerings.

“I’ve been cooking the same food for 15 years, and it’s great to have another mind and set of skilled hands in there to collaborate with,” Rekosh says, adding that he plans to step away from regular kitchen duties except during peak times of the year. “For the most part, Josh can handle it–he’s a professional and I couldn’t be happier with him.”

Rekosh says he was long reluctant to revamp the menu, but the time was finally right for some modifications.

“The biggest complaint I get is that the menu never changes and is stagnant,” he says. “The problem was everything is somebody’s favorite.” So Zocalo is maintaining its core menu, but Hutter is adding an extensive specials list every week that will change frequently. “He really understands the flavor profile of Zocalo and has modernized it,” says Rekosh.

Hutter, an Albemarle High School graduate, spent 10 years at a succession of notable D.C. restaurants like Taco Bamba Taqueria, Sonoma Restaurant & Wine Bar, and The Riggsby, Michael Schlow’s restaurant in the Carlyle Hotel. But with a growing family, Hutter yearned to escape the crazy commutes and crowds and return to a place where he’d prefer to raise his children. He and his family settled in Staunton after he landed the job at Zynodoa. Now, he’s enjoying working back in Charlottesville, where he cooked at Downtown Grille, Blue Light, Bang, and Metropolitan earlier in his career.

“I really love the central Virginia area, especially Charlottesville, and the lifestyle,” he says. He’s pleased about the collaboration with Rekosh, and the chance to brainstorm new menu offerings that blend with Zocalo’s South American/Mexican style.

“We’ve kept the core entrées on the menu and now offer a different side menu with two to three appetizers and entrées, depending on seasonal availability,” he says. “I’ll come up with a dish and bounce it off Ivan, and if it’s really nice, we might keep it on for a few more days, but we’ll try to keep things moving and keep them fresh.”

Some recent specials included a grilled filet mignon with chipotle-roasted portobello mushrooms and roasted fingering potatoes with a black garlic crema, as well as a pan-seared rockfish with piquillo pepper and saffron risotto and roasted broccolini with chorizo vinaigrette. Last weekend, he offered a lobster empanada with aji amarillo crema and arugula salad.

“There’s been a lot of change with Ivan buying out his partner, then taking over the place for himself and realizing he wants to step back from the kitchen and take an owner role and see the bigger picture,” Hutter says. But he and Rekosh have hit upon a recipe of collaboration that works well, they say.

“Customer response has been awesome,” Rekosh says. “We’re selling a lot of specials.”

caption: Zocalo’s new executive chef, Josh Hutter, worked at a number of D.C. restaurants before returning to central Virginia.

Photo: Amy Jackson Smith

Categories
Food & Drink Living

Fried fish on the go: A new business takes off

Charlottesville native Angelic Jenkins is selling crave-worthy fried fish from her new food truck. Photo: Amy Jackson Smith

Angelic’s Kitchen On Wheels food truck has taken to the streets, a mere four years since owner Angelic Jenkins began cooking professionally, after her husband urged her to find a hobby other than shopping.

“I love cooking for people and always wanted to sell fried fish at a festival,” Jenkins says, “So I started off doing a tent set-up at Washington Park, at the African American Culture festival.” The event was so successful that before she knew it she was working festivals as far away as Virginia Beach, selling her fried fish, wings, hush puppies, and onion rings to a rabid fan base who love her exclusive fish fry breading, which she sells to customers interested in frying at home.

Cooking under a tent was too weather-dependent, hence the transition to a food truck, which Jenkins purchased in August. And as the Charlottesville native prepared for her restaurant-on-wheels, she attended two years of culinary classes at CATEC, even winning a bread contest while enrolled.

Jenkins has her hands full, working full-time as HR director at the Doubletree and operating her food truck on evenings and weekends. But she loves to keep busy.

“I’m the Energizer Bunny. I keep going. And I love to cook–my house is the come-to house for the holidays because everyone knows I’m going to cook up a feast,” she says. “I love bringing a smile to people’s faces when they try my food!”

No doubt her husband is smiling as well, now that her new hobby has become a business.

“My daughter said, ‘Mom, you haven’t shopped in a long time!’” Jenkins says. “Now we’re just shopping for fish and fries and hush puppies.”

Information on where to find the truck, which maintains a home base in Pantops at the intersection of Rt. 250 and Long Street, can be found at www.angelicskitchen.com

Souper stars

Just over a year ago we were touting our local connections to the highly-anticipated opening of (former TEN Japanese kitchen staff member) Douglas Kim’s Jeju Noodle Bar in Lower Manhattan.

Earlier this month, Kim landed a coveted Michelin star for his elevated Korean comfort food, making Jeju the first-ever Michelin-starred noodle bar in the U.S. and one of only 16 new restaurants added to NYC’s prestigious list.

The guide credits Jeju Noodle Bar as an approachable Korean restaurant in the West Village specializing in ramyum, the Korean version of ramen. Inspectors not only found Kim’s food fantastic to eat, but also backed by solid technique.

BBQ coming downtown

Moe’s Original BBQ is expanding to a second location at the old Mono Loco building, according to co-owner Ashleigh Abrams.

“We’ve been looking to expand in Charlottesville for a while, and the opportunity to take over such an iconic space in Charlottesville got us really excited,” she says. “We’ll be serving up the same made-from-scratch BBQ and sides, but will be staying open later for the bar crowd and have live music on a regular basis.”

Abrams and her husband Mike are partnering with Megan Abato and Riley Garvin, who’ve been with Moe’s Ivy Road location for two years. The soon-to-be newlyweds will run the downtown site, with doors slated to open by March.

 

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Food & Drink Living

Mel at Mel’s: Chef Melissa Close-Hart savors a taste of home at Mel’s Cafe

Junction chef Melissa Close-Hart has been eating at Mel’s for 20 years.

Sometimes the good stuff is hiding right under your nose.

For decades, Mel’s Café has sat near the center of town on West Main Street, with a bright blue sign that is impossible to miss. Yet, even some of my most food-loving friends have never set foot in the place. As a longtime fan, this puzzles me. And many top chefs would share my view: They love it, too.

Take Junction’s Melissa Close-Hart, one of Charlottesville’s most decorated chefs. A native of Mobile, Alabama, Close-Hart calls Mel’s her “go-to place for a taste of home,” and has been eating there for 20 years. I recently tagged along with her at Mel’s to see what keeps her coming back.

Part of it is feel. Genuine Southern hospitality meets everyone who walks through the door. “No pomp and circumstance,” said Close-Hart. “Just go to the counter, order your food, get your own drink, wait for Mel to personally cook your order, and then enjoy.”

But the real hook is owner Mel Walker’s soul food.

Walker first learned to cook in the late 1960s, while working as a dishwasher at The Virginian. One evening, when the cook didn’t show, the owner asked Walker, who was only 14 years old at the time, to fill in. He must have been a quick study: when the owner returned the next day, Walker recalls, he said: “Mel, you’re the cook now.” Walker has been cooking ever since, and Mel’s is a showcase of the  homestyle Southern dishes he has honed over the years.

Close-Hart and I shared a feast of some of Walker’s best, starting with Close-Hart’s standard order, which she rattled off like a child reciting a rhyme: hamburger steak with gravy and onions, mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans, two rolls, and sweet tea. For the steak, Walker grills a fresh eight ounce hamburger patty, which he smothers with grilled onions and gravy made from beef broth, his own blend of spices, and a roux. “Never underdone or overcooked,” Close-Hart said of the steak.

You can taste the love that goes into Walker’s food, Close-Hart said: “You have to love the food to give it soul.” For me, nowhere in great soul food cooking is the love felt more deeply than in the vegetables, cooked with patience and care, gently coaxing their flavor. Walker’s green beans, “nothing fancy,” he insisted, were “cooked properly”  for a Southerner like Close-Hart, she said: slowly, with onions and an end of country ham, until dark olive in color and nearly falling apart. “That’s the way my mom and granny cooked them,” Close-Hart said.

She assembled a bite of hamburger steak, gravy, onions, green beans, and mashed potatoes on her fork, held it in the air, and admired it. “Aside from Thanksgiving,” she said, “this is my favorite bite of food in the world.”

There was also love in our plate of fried chicken. Patience, too. “Many places cook chicken ahead,” says Walker, “but not here.” Once ordered, about 14-16 minutes is the time Walker needs to dip the chicken in egg wash and seasoned flour, and then deep-fry it. “No one minds waiting the extra time for properly cooked fried chicken,” said Close-Hart.   

We had to have a Meta’s burger, a Mel’s legend. Pronounced “meet-ah’s,” the burger is named for a customer who ordered the same thing almost every day at an Earlysville place where Walker once worked called Charlie’s Cafe: a burger with Swiss cheese and grilled onions on rye toast. A sum-is-greater-than-its-parts combination, it is one of the most crave-worthy foods in town.

Last but not least was sweet potato pie, which Close-Hart orders on every visit, and says she could eat every day. “I make a pretty good sweet potato pie,” said the four-time James Beard Award semifinalist, “but Mel blows mine out of the water.” The recipe comes from Walker’s grandmother, with sweet potatoes, milk, and just little bit of sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg. “Sweet potatoes have a natural sweetness and complexity,” said Close-Hart, “and do not need to be doused in a ton of sugar and spice to taste good.” The result is a pie that has become so popular that, around the holidays, people order it by the dozen.

What Close-Hart likes best about Mel’s food is the comfort it brings. “My husband knows he could bring me my favorite Mel’s meal and it would cheer me up more than flowers and chocolates,” she said. But there is one thing about Mel’s she admits she does not like: the name. You see, Close-Hart, who sometimes goes by Mel, has always wanted to open a soul food restaurant of her own, and call it Mel’s.

She can’t do that in Charlottesville, though. There’s only one Mel’s.